Me and a very nice black & white TV set
I was in the car listening to Don Henley’s ‘The Boys of Summer‘ on the radio and was suddenly hit with a wave of gratitude and nostalgia. I got a big flash of all of the miracles that have have occurred since I was born, a lot of them seem like ‘little’ things that younger people just take for granted because they have never been without them. Some really are little things but they are still miracles in their own way.
Here are some of the things I am amazed at, grateful for, and have changed my life that did not exist (or were not available to most people) when I was born (in no particular order, and yes I’m old):
Space travel to other planets (OK, that’s a huge one)
Personal computers
Digital cameras
The internet, the world wide web and email
Ebay, Amazon and online shopping
Voice mail and answering machines
Cellular phones and text messaging
Personal music players including the iPod and my favorite gadget, the iPhone
Color television
Cable television
Hand held calculators
Electric typewriters and liquid paper
Digital and wrist watches (and we used to actually have to wind ours up!)
Wireless remote controls for televisions (and lots of other things including garage doors and gates)
Music videos
Music CD’s (we had vinyl records and then 8 track tapes when I was a kid)
DVD’s
Personal video recorders
Personal audio recorders and players
Video games (we had the first ever, Pong)
Microwave ovens and microwavable ready to eat food (TV dinners 🙂
UPC bar codes and scanners
Electronic cash registers
Xerox and fax machines
Indoor, air-conditioned sports arenas (and AstroTurf)
Air bags in cars (they scare me but I’m grateful for them)
Three point seat belts
Electric windows on cars and electric locks
Car batteries that don’t have to be ‘watered’
Home smoke alarms
Monitored home & business alarm systems
Soft contact lenses (I wear soft bifocal lenses, that’s a miracle in itself)
Corrective eye surgery
Laparoscopic and completely non-invasive surgeries
Organ transplant surgeries
Handheld hair dryers (yes, really)
Ziploc baggies
Handheld shower heads
Feminine hygiene pads that don’t have to be worn with a belt (sticky pads)
And speaking of sticky – post it notes
Reclosable plastic bottles of any type of beverage (including water)
Ice makers and water dispensers in refrigerators
Memory foam
Handheld flashlights that are actually bright enough to be useful
LED and LCD technology
ATM machines
24 hour stores (stores weren’t even open on Sundays when I was growing up)
Athletic and comfort shoes
Spandex
Not having to be constantly exposed to cigarette smoke almost everywhere you go (including at the work place)
Oh, and social networking, like Facebook
So on those days (like today) that I am cursing because my internet connection is not working right or my cell phone drops a call, it’s good to realize how far we really have come in just the last 50 years.
